How to Shoot Light Trails

One of the first subjects that I remember trying to capture as a teenager with my first SLR camera (film) was light trails created by cars on a busy road near my home.

I’d seen this type of shot in a photography magazine and was impressed by the eye catching results.

Light Trails continue to be popular subject matter for many photographers and they can actually be a great training ground for those wanting to get their cameras out of manual mode and to experiment with shooting in low light at longer exposures.

Following area few examples of light trail shots as well as some practical starting point tips for those wanting to give it a go.

Equipment:

There is not just one particular type of camera and kit that you’ll need to capture light trails – however it is important to have a camera that allows you to have some control over exposure settings – particularly those that allow you to choose longer shutter speeds. This means you need a camera that has the ability to shoot in either full manual mode and/or shutter priority mode (something that all DSLRs and manypoint and shoot cameras have).

You’ll also need a tripod (or some other way to making your camera completely still) as you’ll be shooting with long shutter speeds which will make shooting handheld pretty much impossible.

Not essential but helpful to have with you are lens hoods (to help block lens flare from ambient lights), remote shutter release cables or wireless remote controls, patience and some warm clothes if you’re going out on a chilly night.

The Basic Principle:

At the most general level photographing light trails involves finding a spot where you’ll see the light trails created by cars, securing your digital camera, setting a long exposure setting on your camera and shooting at a time when cars will be going by to create the trail of light. Of course it’s a little more complicated than this – but the general factor behind it is longer exposures that will enable the car/s that create the trails to move through your image.

Experiment:

While there are a lot of tips that could be shared on the topic of photographing light trails – the main thing I learned in my early days of attempting to create these types of images was to experiment extensively. The beauty of digital photography is that you can do this with no extra cost to yourself and can get instant results (unlike when I did it on film and had to fork out for film and processing – not to mention wait days to see my results).

Setting Up Your Shot:

Photographing light trails is not difficult – it’s as simple as finding virtually any road with cars going down it once the sun goes down. But getting a shot that grabs attention means putting a little more thought into choosing your location, thinking about timing and framing your image. Here are a few tips on how to set your shot up:

Timing/Light – one might think that the middle of the night is the best time for light trail photography (and it can be) – however one very effective time to do it is just as the sun is going down (just before and after). If you shoot at this time you’ll not only capture light from cars, but ambient light in the sky which can add atmosphere to your shots. You also might find that earlier in the evening you get a little more ‘action’ in your shot with more cars and even the movement of people through your shot.

Creative Perspectives – some of the most effective light trail shots that I’ve taken and seen from others were taken from perspectives other than at the height of a normal person standing up. Get down low or find a place looking down on your scene that will create an unusual angle.

Location – the most obvious thing with location is that you’ll need it to be somewhere near a road – however there’s more to think about than that. Choose a location that adds interest to the shot in some way. This might be one where there are well lit buildings along the road, one where multiple roads merge together to create light trails in different directions, on the bend of a road so that the trails sweep through the image, near a roundabout so the trails create circular shapes, in the middle of dual carriageways (on a triaffic island) so that you get traffic coming in two directions etc.

Framing – the normal ‘rules’ of composition apply in this type of photography. Images need some sort of point/s of interest, the rule of thirds can be applied effectively, draw the eyes into your image using lines smartly, foregounds and backgrounds should add to and not distract from the image.

Settings:

Aperture and Shutter Speed – I wish I could give you shutter speeds and apertures that will work in every situation – but as the ambient light and speed of cars will differ in every situation there’s no one exposure combination that will work in every setting.

Having said this I’ve found that I usually shoot at shutter speeds between 10 and 20 seconds (which gives cars time to move through the frame) and with apertures in the mid range (start with something around f/8).

The key is to start with something in the range above and to take a few test shots to see how the exposure works. You’ll quickly realize whether your shots are under or overexposed and whether the length of the exposure is long enough to let cars travel through the frame in the way that you want.

If your shots are overexposed – close your aperture down (increase the f stop number) or if your shots are underexposed open it up (decrease the f stop numbers). If you want the car’s lights to go further through the frame go for a longer shutter speed and if you want it to travel less through the frame shorten it.

Keep in mind that aperture impacts depth of field. If you need to go with a larger aperture you decrease the depth of field and more of your shot will be out of focus.

Histogram – One thing to watch out for is letting any light source in your image (whether it be headlights, street lights etc) washing out your image. Lights that burn too bright can cause distractions and draw the eye of your viewer away from focal points – ruining your shot. One way to quickly check out if there’s any area in your shot that is overexposed to this degree is to view the histogram on your shot. If there are areas that are blown out you’ll have a graph with a right hand side that is too high on the graph. Learn more about histograms here.

Choose a low ISO setting – this will give you images with as little noise as possible.

Shoot in RAW if you have it – this will enable you to have more control in your post production work – particularly in getting white balance right (something that can be important as you’re shooting in a situation with lots of artificial light that can cause all kinds of color casts in your shot).

Manual Focus – In low light situations cameras can struggle to get focusing locked correctly. The last thing you want is for your camera to be in and out of focus just as you need to hit the shutter release. Switch to manual focus and make sure your focus is upon a part of your image that is visually strong.

Timing Your Shot:

There is no right or wrong way to time your shot. Hitting the shutter just before a car enters the frame and releasing it just after it leaves the frame can create a lovely unbroken line – but sometimes shooting with shorter exposure times while the camera is in the frame can be effective also. Once again it’s about experimenting with different timings and seeing what effects it has.

Using Bulb Mode:

Many digital cameras have a mode on them called ‘bulb’ mode that allows you as the photographer to keep the shutter open as long as you wish. This can be very handy in this type of photography to time your shots with precision. If you use this you’ll want to be using a remote shutter release to stop any camera movement while the shutter is open.

Got some good light trail shots? Head over to our forum and share them with the DPS community.

Some Older Comments

AndyApril 16, 2013 01:58 am

Aperture obviously not appetite!!! Iphone spell check and bad typing!

AndyApril 16, 2013 01:56 am

Hi guys. If you would like to take daytime shots or control the depth of field in daylight or dusk just use a neutral density filter to block out the light. A 10x ND will block out sufficient light to keep the shutter open 30 seconds, apatite f 11 to 22 and balance with the iso to get enough light for good exposure. You will then get the beautiful sheen on the water!

PeteMarch 21, 2013 11:32 am

Great tips, you can have good fun and create some cool photos with your own light sources too. Trying using various coloured lights such as torches with coloured gels, you'll get some great shots!

Joy HillFebruary 22, 2013 09:49 pm

This was super helpful - thanks for posting!

ChrisJanuary 22, 2013 06:47 pm

Really helpful - thanks for the information and tips, I'm out tonight at dusk !

Eniola OdurindeNovember 27, 2012 07:07 am

WOW!!!
Great tutorial, with gorgeous pictures!

andrewNovember 8, 2012 09:25 am

To help you take better pictures Sony has included features such as intelligent scene recognition and a face detection mode for better portraits. Perhaps a more gimmicky feature is a smile shutter that fires off a shot if the Cybershot DSC T90 detects someone is smiling.

Subhash PuriOctober 24, 2012 11:19 am

It is an awesome tutorial. Thanks for so many informations. I will certainly give it a try.

Tommy SelfFebruary 2, 2012 09:46 am

What size lens do you use or is the best lens to use. I have a 75/300 and a 55mm

RYanDecember 14, 2011 06:34 am

Hi, I was wondering what sort of filter you used to block out some unwanted light, if any, please let me know!

Thanks.

Daniel NielsenDecember 8, 2011 08:21 am

I do some pretty neat photo art with a long shutter. You can see some of it here: http://frozenpanda.com/photographs/art/

But i have also used it in a portrait... which i think i will use some more in the future: http://photoblog.frozenpanda.com/index.php?showimage=325

Edwin EugeneSeptember 14, 2011 02:34 pm

I have seen all the photo in my htc phone is very good.
Thanks
Edwin
14-9-2021

PRAVEENJune 17, 2011 07:31 pm

I love this type of photography, and i practice it daily after my school, visiting your tutorial i learnt a few more tips and i will implement those today it self

maurersMay 19, 2011 10:21 am

Whenever I try and take long exposure shots of things like fountains/rivers etc to make the water look all smooth ;)

Its really Great to read as am a beginner for DSLR.... Nice ... i eagarly want to try this ...
until i read this one, i will be thinking i couldnot take like this photos.......
Thanks once again for your valuable tips.

James RendinaMarch 22, 2011 02:16 am

I consider myself a very serious advanced photographer, Been doing it for some 55 years. Every article, tip and suggestion that comes to me thru your efforts reminds me and re-enforces techniques that hopefully keeps my skills fresh and alive. I do not know of any single source of material that I enjoy and look forward to as much as your timely publications.
My sincere thanks for the continuing great job you do.

Erik KerstenbeckMarch 20, 2011 05:37 am

Hi

Here is another attempt in Traffic

Uptown from Downtown: http://t.co/WpR66fB

Erik KerstenbeckMarch 20, 2011 05:35 am

Great article - lots of super tips!
I tried some techniques...here is the result

Gas Lamp Quarter: http://t.co/8qMRfcy

liaqatMarch 19, 2011 10:46 pm

great tutorial mate!
thanks a ton for sharing

KathyJanuary 24, 2011 12:43 am

I have a beginner question about this subject. What should my metering be set at for night shots and day shots to properly blur? Or does that matter? My thoughts are: don't meter with spot metering nor zone but use center weight?? Please advise......

ElDavidJanuary 23, 2011 06:36 pm

Tried it today with a tripod an a cable release, set to bulb.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidenriquefinol/5380332296/

TasmiaJanuary 1, 2011 06:08 pm

This is a great tutorial for someone who knows nothing about photography but I googled it as a friend of mine took some amazing light trail photos..do you know of a good priced camera which includes this function? :)

RobynOctober 5, 2010 04:13 am

thankyou, this was very helpful, seeing as i'm just going out to try doing this very soon.
hopefully they'll come out the way i expect them too. (:

Robert FrederickSeptember 8, 2010 09:22 am

i've experimented with light streams via 4 different color LED's connected to button batteries temporarily attached to a 3 section fan blade with the fan unplugged, by varying the shutter speed & the speed at which the fan blade was manually spinnned i got some interesting results especially when i varied the shooting incident angle to the fan blade axis & the placement of the LED on the fan blade section[eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/30089437@N05/4895261037/' title='Light Painting' url='http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/4895261037_9bb3a490be.jpg'][eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/30089437@N05/4899089053/' title='Lighted' url='http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4075/4899089053_2d0ff54bfe.jpg']

osborneSeptember 7, 2010 07:57 am

As a neophite photographer always searching for instructive postings, with solid how-to detail, I find the coverage on light trails simply wonderful and wished there were more posts on taking good pics like this one. You are not only schooled on the topic but assisted with how to go about taking good light trails. Nothing to complain about here from my viewpoint. With this info in hand, I think I can confidently go out there and experiment taking some pretty good shots myself. Muchos gracias!

TimSeptember 3, 2010 04:09 pm

@ Elliot,

It sounds to me like your aperture is open way too far or your shooting in light that is way too harsh. A couple of things that may help:

1. Shoot in S mode instead of full manual, this will allow the camera to adjust the aperture setting for you. You may find that you have to knock back your exposure compensation also.

2. Try to go back and shoot in lower light conditions such as overcast days or sunrise / sunset.

3. Full light shots may only require a shutter setting of a half a second instead of starting @ 2.

Good luck!

juarezSeptember 3, 2010 02:26 pm

great tutorial, very interesting! thank you for sharing!

Subramanya PrasadAugust 27, 2010 08:56 pm

Very nice pictures and very good description of the steps, tips and tricks.

Here's one that I tried.[eimg link='http://www.flickr.com/photos/subpra/4804854129/' title='ZigZag' url='http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4078/4804854129_96c6d20688.jpg']

AlexAugust 24, 2010 05:51 am

Wow! Best one is with bicycle and the mountain road. Do you think it is possible to make this affect on the video or movie clip?

moglieAugust 21, 2010 08:21 am

First try :)
Having fun

ElliotAugust 21, 2010 01:47 am

Hey. Whenever I try and take long exposure shots of things like fountains/rivers etc to make the water look all smooth, I usually just end up with a screen full of white. I have it on exposures of around 2-8s. and I keep the ISO levels on 100. Is it simply the aperture I need to change?

(If it helps I use a Canon EOS 300D)

Thanks.

Guess the LightingAugust 21, 2010 12:52 am

Nice, in-depth post. If you're interested in seeing how famous photographers light their images, take a peek at GuessTheLighting.com

KidRobotAugust 19, 2010 01:48 am

FIRST time trying this out after reading the article above.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/abrahamrodriguez83/4900542422/

RajevJuly 28, 2010 07:37 am

The article is WOW! The pics are WOW! Thanks.

DarrenJuly 26, 2010 09:50 pm

I took an interesting photo of lights at night. I had the camera set on time exposure, pressed the shutter button manually. The car lights and street lights moved when I pressed the shutter button, but then the softer lights started to filter in eg; house lights. It looked very affective. Cheers.

rakeshJuly 25, 2010 04:45 pm

i have never tried such light trails shot before. i will definately do this following your tips sir. thank you

Just a tip with using BULB mode. My Canon 400D will only allow you to use BULB mode in the manual setting (i think thats it) definately not in the auto, or semi-auto settings.

AlanJuly 23, 2010 05:40 am

Hello i get these mails regularly and i'm happy to learn New things every time.

One Question..... Can these light trials can be captured in Digital Still cameras like Sony T90 ?
if yes how to go about it.

LanceJuly 23, 2010 05:13 am

Funny thing about light is that its like shooting the paint an artist uses rather than the painting itself. I use a several shutter speeds because the effects are very different.

ShariqJuly 23, 2010 02:10 am

Love it! Can't wait to get home and try this tonight!

Laura MJuly 22, 2010 01:11 pm

I absolutely love this - do you have any NYC shots? Would love to see them :) Keep blogging, cheers!

souravsenJuly 20, 2010 11:48 am

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourav_sen/4808899057/

souravsenJuly 20, 2010 11:48 am

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourav_sen/4808899057/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourav_sen/4808899275/

souravsenJuly 20, 2010 11:45 am

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourav_sen/4808899275/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourav_sen/4808899057/

souravJuly 20, 2010 03:51 am

Light trails created by flies under a lamp post.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourav_sen/4808899057/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourav_sen/4808899275/in/photostream/

Kyle BaileyJuly 20, 2010 03:51 am

Great article as always! I wish I had an opportunity to read it before I shot the picture linked below as it would have made my process easier. I had to take 20 or 30 shots to get my settings right. Keep up the great work!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kylebailey/4805814490/

Martin Soler PhotographyJuly 19, 2010 07:33 am

Some good tips there. I did my first one here and was pretty happy with it, it is on the street that goes from Paris to Versailles:
http://martinsoler.com/2009/10/27/la-route-pour-versaille/

There are a couple of tips I would suggest.
1. Choose a day with lots of traffic. I kept coming in weekends and there was not enough traffic to make something interesting.
2. Try to shoot slightly earlier and use an ND filter, then you get the nice blue sky instead of a black or brown sky.
3. Capture a street that gives a nice vanishing point or eye trail.

cheap louis vuitton handbagsJuly 18, 2010 10:11 pm

great~~!!

Wedding Photography Sydney - Thina DoukasJuly 17, 2010 08:38 am

Thanks for the great information on shooting light trails. Havn't had the chance to get out and practice this form of photography. Your advice is much appreciated thanks again

As stephen said, using the self timer is important if you don't have a remote. You can set the timer to 2 seconds on most cameras for this very purpose.

Mei TengJuly 16, 2010 10:53 am

Thanks for sharing! :) I want to try shooting light trails soon. Have not had any success in the past.

iTakePhotographyMay 12, 2010 04:08 am

Many thanks for a very informative tutorial.
After reading this last-night (10th May 2010) I ended up on a M1 motorway bridge, until 03:00 this morning.

Mind you, my efforts were far from perfect!

Keep smiling

iTakePhotography

ColterApril 21, 2010 01:38 pm

Really nice tutorial, very comprehensive and easy to follow. I've been constantly experimenting on different objects with the light other than light trails from cars and when done creatively, it really gives an amazing piece of artwork.

PoTayTowManNovember 20, 2009 05:09 am

AWESOME! Im gonna try all these out NEVER! I knew all this before I even came out of my mothers stomach! I take better pictures then these every 10 seconds for god sakes! Find something youre good at and stop clogging my internets. Kbai

UtpalMay 22, 2009 08:42 pm

Perfect lesson........cant get that in any class.......well done..........might need more help later

Edwin BarretoMay 5, 2009 02:57 am

Finally, information that is not just practical, easy-to-follow, but full of excellent insights. Thank you!

Georgia T.April 26, 2009 10:57 am

hi, im a year 12 student from Queensland, a friend of mine suggested this site for me because he thought that it might assist me in my art major at school. i can tell you now that i think it will help me greatly and i cant wait to try some of this stuff out, thank you, george

AlexApril 17, 2009 01:50 am

This is a great post! I've always wanted to take photos like this and now it's great to know how. I posted some of my attmpets in the Forum (Lights Trails in Pittsburgh).

I do have one question I was hoping someone could answer, my camera (Nikon P90) only allows me to go to shutter speeds of 8 sec., how high to some nicer cameras get?

Howard BestFebruary 22, 2009 06:13 am

Is there an inexpensive non-SLR camera that I than buy at Wal-Mart which will allow me to photograph star trails with an exposure length of hours?

Mario LatJanuary 27, 2009 12:08 pm

How I wish i could take pics soon. No camera yet. But this is an encouraging post. And smartly written. Thanks.

Martin LewisJanuary 24, 2009 09:20 pm

Going to give this a go tonight and hopefully post up some cool images. Thanks.

guyJanuary 24, 2009 05:30 am

swivel your camera back and forth on the tri pod and you can get some gnarly images...

sgacyrJanuary 6, 2009 04:42 pm

thanks for the tips...i try to use it and the outcome was good... here's my shot http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgacyr/3118015072/

BigAshDDecember 17, 2008 10:08 am

Hi Matt,

You need to turn the IS off when mounting to a tripod, because the IS senses motion in the camera / lens. When it is mounted to a fixed point, like a tripod, they can get themselves into a tiz, and try to compensate for no movement. This creates a worse effect than if the camera / lens wasn't mounted onto a tripod. Switching it off removes this problem. Some of the Canon lenses can auto-detect that they are tripod mounted, and prevent this, but I ALWAY swtich my IS lenses off when using a tripod, monopod, or bean bag.

Hope this helps.

Ash

MattDecember 17, 2008 07:03 am

Hey,

I tried some for hire photos with my new Canon 50D. The clients are happy but I think that I can do better. I am an ok shooter but no serious professional. Any suggestions for my shots would be appreciated. I want to make the lights more stream like and I have been told that adjusting the ISO setting shoudl do it alog with using a tripod.

http://www.teppanvillage.ca/photo-gallery.htm

http://www.chaletwhistler.ca/photos.html

One question though. I was told that when I use a tripod I shoud turn off the image stabalization? Any idea why?

Thanks,
Matt

projectgrfixSeptember 28, 2008 11:53 pm

Looks great! I never knew how its shot. Thanks.

wspinaczkaSeptember 13, 2008 09:42 pm

Thank you very much for this useful article. I like it.

Maritza N.September 9, 2008 07:33 am

Can I use this technique with my Panasonic Lumix TZ1. I'm taking a continued education in intermediate photography course and the professor asked us to do this work. Most of the students has professional cameras and just two students including me has a single camera. If there's a possibility to make it?

I'll appreciate your response, thank you.

MARLAAugust 24, 2008 07:09 am

GREAT INFO! Im a newbie and it is hard to find this information with basic clarity and easy to understand guidelines the way you have described. Thank You!

StephenAugust 16, 2008 05:04 pm

Manual settings are great - so many possibilities. One things I'm wondering though; the images that are displayed here (and any other post) - do you simply find them randomly on flickr or are the photos owners directly affiliated with dps?

edwinAugust 16, 2008 02:24 pm

Thanks for sharing.

AprilAugust 16, 2008 10:10 am

Um, is it just me, or is this entry really familiar? Even the pictures!

Has this been posted before?

SoCalStockAugust 16, 2008 10:04 am

Thanks for the awesome tutorial!!! I will be testing it out tonight, and will post some examples.

Mike AncientAugust 16, 2008 08:53 am

Lots of obvious stuff, but stuff that needs to be said about light trail photography, when putting together a tutorial. Good stuff in the comments as well.
Here's one of mine, from inside the car:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeancient/2234638415/

IanAugust 15, 2008 03:06 am

@ Maui the star trails are usu. a result of havaing used a small aperture look here: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=538623

BenjaminAugust 15, 2008 02:53 am

Awesome tutorial. Thanks for organizing and posting this!

CinnamonAugust 15, 2008 01:04 am

Great tutorial, comments, and of course, pics....can't wait to utilize my new knowledge!! Thank you all!

AshAugust 15, 2008 12:45 am

You can also use an ND filter to enable the required f-stop for depth of field and shutter speed for capturing the required length of trail.

You can get a rough figure for the exposure by setting the ISO high and metering. Then double the time for each halving of the ISO setting back down to 100. I've done this for long expsoures and it works very well, certainly to get a rough estimate when you can't afford to keep doing 5 min exposures (i.e. because you'll miss the best of the light AND cars).

AjaniAugust 15, 2008 12:30 am

Great article. I will need try shooting in Bulb and with RAW but I did a lot of this stuff.

I tried night photography a few months ago when I first got my camera. Here are a few examples.

Shot with a Nikon D60. As you can see, I'm in DC.
http://picasaweb.google.com/proverbthetruth/NightPhotography/photo#5211946898766036210

ziad chatilaAugust 15, 2008 12:17 am

@Maui I know there are star filters that you can use to gain that effect.

http://www.tiffen.com/star_filters.htm

MauiAugust 14, 2008 06:49 pm

I've been dying to try this for the longest time but you can't just shoot here and there in my country. I have a question though, how do you achieve those starshaped light effect? And do you remove filters when doing night photography?

Shot over the 405 Freeway bridge by South Coast Plaza in Orange County, California

evanoAugust 14, 2008 01:54 am

Great tutorial! I've only gotten shots like this before accidentally.

As to the suggestions from Dave above (#comment-20691) about moving the camera to shoot in clubs: Thanks! Now I have an excuse for all the shots I've taken in concerts and clubs which I previously called "lousy". Now I can tell everyone they were done on purpose! :)

Martin WolfAugust 14, 2008 01:40 am

Thanks a lot for your advices. Good tips and nice photos!

Pete LangloisAugust 14, 2008 12:31 am

I was trying to shoot Perseid Meteor showers the other night but wherever the camera was pointed the showers weren't.

http://www.petelanglois.net

missyApril 18, 2008 09:43 am

I have been shooting long exposures at night from 15 mins up to one hour and have been getting a lot of red and white dots (different than typical digital noise). I am shooting a canon digital rebel. I was using an iso of 100, and aperatures from f8 to f22. I was told that this could be due to overheating of the sensor. Any thought on this? If this is the case, how can you do a long exposure with a digital camera?

victoriaApril 11, 2008 09:16 pm

You dont have to use a digital camera to capture these type of photos. I take lots of light trail photos with my black and white film EOS and have alsways been happy with the results.

BillApril 9, 2008 06:58 am

Great tips. I am going to try it out tonight.

MatthewMarch 22, 2008 11:40 am

I was just looking at the photo taken by Tricky and noticed that it's taken right where I worked a few months back. I thought the road layout looked familiar. I still drive that way to my new office every day.

rogerhausFebruary 15, 2008 02:45 am

i like so much the nocturnal photography.
I'll try to take the pictures on RAW mode like you explained. I'm used to take the pictures in JPG mode, and i'll try in RAW. :P
Thanks, byez!!!!

J.B.January 30, 2008 12:57 pm

I enjoyed the article and gave it a try this past weekend.
http://photos.jbchurchill.com/?q=gallery&g2_itemId=979

Thanks !

lolwutJanuary 21, 2008 07:13 am

how do i shoot web ?
_ _
(O_o)

RuneJanuary 15, 2008 11:54 pm

Thanks for some great tips. They came into use on New Year's Eve! And I've also started using histograms to my advantage.

Joey RicoJanuary 15, 2008 09:28 pm

wow great shots!!!!!!! this is really what i'm trying to learn how to do!!!!!!!!

here are some samples of what i took...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alienscream/1511408634/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alienscream/1511408606/

Phill PriceJanuary 13, 2008 09:07 am

Thanks to the motivation from this ost I got this on my journey home yesterday

Oh my gosh, I actually did it. I said I'd try and I actually got one.
It's not nearly as gret, but I captured a light trail!

http://i6.tinypic.com/71e7evp.jpg

- Angela

leeJanuary 12, 2008 06:27 am

Nice article. I've made a number of long exposure photos over the years using film. Digital photography has opened a whole new way of my making exposures. I recently captured this image by taking advantage of the existing low light and the slowness of the shutter:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16402697@N07/1780781174/

paoJanuary 12, 2008 03:08 am

thanks for the tutorial! very helpful.

hafiz musJanuary 12, 2008 12:39 am

useful info. :)

BarneyJanuary 11, 2008 04:04 pm

Nice intro article. Would have been nice to see something about possible sensor [over-]heating issues with longer exposures and work-arounds.

JeffJanuary 10, 2008 06:52 am

Stephen,
I don't think the self-timer won't work for this method? If you're doing bulb photography, you need to hold the shutter button down for an extended period of time.

Jack SadlerJanuary 10, 2008 06:49 am

Excellent information! I read your e-mals every day with graet interest.

JennyJanuary 10, 2008 03:48 am

I have always loved these kinds of pictures. But I have no idea how to take them myself. :( But they're pretty awesome.

And I gave you a thumbs up on stumble :)

SusanneJanuary 9, 2008 07:37 pm

This is one of the most useful explanations of how to photograph with long shutterspeeds! Keep them coming - I will definitely keep an eye out for them!!!

StephenJanuary 9, 2008 12:35 pm

Also try using the self-timer on your camera to initiate the shot. By doing this you will ensure that there is no additional camera movement inadvertently caused by pressing the shutter button.

DarrenJanuary 9, 2008 11:48 am

Great shot Charlie - welcome to DPS.

RameshJanuary 9, 2008 10:18 am

Does Nikon D40x has this feature?

Charlie TyackJanuary 9, 2008 07:24 am

Hey I was wondering why my photo started getting lots of hits!

Great tutorial :D

JeffJanuary 9, 2008 06:52 am

Something to keep in mind when choosing a white balance is that although you're shooting outside, your primary sources of light tend to be either tungsten or florescent.

Of course shooting in RAW as you mentioned would negate this problem.

AngelaJanuary 9, 2008 04:34 am

Awesome. (:

I ove the last shop. Maybe I'll be able to take a great shot like these one day.

Rob HawkesJanuary 9, 2008 04:28 am

This is a great post.

Night time, especially light at night, is my favourite time for photography. I just love the way you can manipulate and play with the light. Light trails in particular is a big interest of mine.

You can see some of my past traffic trail shots from the M25 and M3 motorways in the UK here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fruitycube/sets/72157603214516259/

NunoJanuary 9, 2008 03:21 am

Very good tutorial, I don't know if my Sony Dsc N-1 can do that!

Pete LangloisJanuary 9, 2008 01:44 am

I experimented with long exposures and sparklers this summer. You can check them out here.

http://www.petelanglois.net/gallery/3113839

Pete

davidJanuary 8, 2008 09:47 pm

i like your tutorial. it's good for users to get their head around some novel ways of photographing at night.

thanks for sharing

cheers

david
http://www.davidsmeaton.com

jenniferJanuary 8, 2008 05:37 pm

Yay, I just got a new camera for my birthday~!

DaveJanuary 8, 2008 01:41 pm

Instead of a tripod and moving lights, try using a flash and moving the camera. In a dark club the flash will freeze your subject and the camera motion will make any point lights streak out into light trails.

If you move you camera upside-down and mirror image from what you're expecting, you can trace the lights into whatever shape you want.